ARCO shareholders overwhelmingly approved the company's proposed combination with BP Amoco at a special shareholder meeting held Aug. 30 in Los Angeles.

The all-share transaction, previously approved by the boards of both companies, will involve the exchange of 0.82 BP Amoco American Depository shares for each ARCO share.

BP Amoco's extraordinary general meeting to vote on the combination is scheduled Sept. 1 in London.

The combination remains subject to the approval of regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission.

ARCO said the companies currently are working to close the transaction later in the year.

ARCO Alaska spokeswoman Dawn Patience told PNA that ARCO is still responding to informational requests from the FTC.

Second plan of development approved for Thetis Island lease

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas has approved a second plan of development for the lease containing the 1 Thetis Island exploration well. The state certified the lease as capable of producing oil, gas or associated substances in paying quantities in 1995.

Leaseholder Anadarko Petroleum Corp. told the state that proposed work includes upgrading regional interpretations and reservoir quality predictions by integrating additional well, petrographic/core and seismic data. The company said it also plans to integrate Fiord well data into the regional and sub-regional interpretations to tie the Fiord area with the Thetis Island area as it relates to Jurassic sand potential, conduct Brookian sequence stratigraphic and reservoir evaluations with existing seismic and well database, evaluate additional seismic purchases and evaluate future partnerships through unitization of property, either by formation of a new unit or by inclusion into an existing unit.

The offshore lease is adjacent to the northeast corner of ARCO Alaska Inc.’s Kuukpik unit and northwest of the ARCO-operated Kuparuk River unit and some 18 miles northeast of ARCO Alaska onshore 1 Fiord discovery well. Exxon drilled the 8,460-foot exploration well in 1993.

The division approved Anadarko’s second plan of development with the proviso that during the first half of 2000, and prior to submission of the next plan, the company would hold a meeting with the division director and/or his staff and present results of its evaluation of the reservoir and possible unitization efforts.